Chapter 8: C7 – The Process of Elimination

‘So, that’s what they’re probably going to do,’ Maybelline repeated. It didn’t take long at all for her to pick up signs of movement from both the Stars and the thugs at Ruler. Simply slipping into the main office of Ashur, she watched amusedly over his shoulder as he gave all the commands to maintain absolute secrecy. Cute attempts.

‘So they’re finally moving…’ Bailey stated, standing at the head of the table on the second floor. Excel stares at her before standing up and getting ready to move. ‘Not yet, Excel. Next week- or rather, in four days, the warehouse will be raided by both the Stars and Ruler.’

‘Your movements were too suspicious this time, Boss. So, what are the plans?’ Strix sighed. The first major offensive against the mafia was due to happen eventually. The fact that their evasive actions managed to buy so much time was commendable, but it was time for the long overdue fight.

‘They’ve delivered the formal letter of battle to our agency. They think we’ll play by their rules and fight outside the city. Hilarious.’ Bailey chuckled. ‘The more damage we do to their client’s businesses, the better. Make sure to prioritize property damage! Oh, Strix, send a warning letter to all the buildings nearby to evacuate before the day of the fight. Innocent lives, and all that. Oh, go with the general plan we drafted for a property defense.’

‘I’ve been waiting for days to do something, Boss. I’m assuming Five has got the locations of the congregating thugs?’ Stella inquired patiently.

Stella was the least discussed member of the Agency, and for good reason- she played the role of a sneaky assassin. She was the youngest member of the Agency; though, how old exactly, remained uncertain. Her small frame and body gave any normal spectator the image of an eight year old child; however, if you had any opportunity at all to hold a conversation with her, you would easily understand something was terribly off with this picture of innocence.

Her manner of speech and mental processes easily betrayed her large quantities of experience in the field of espionage and assassination. She had originally joined the agency under the assumption that they would need a spymaster, but she much prefers the more simple job of slaughter to the complicated tricks required for prying secrets out of incompetent arms.

‘Indeed. Here, I’ve already mapped the place out. Go and cause some chaos, little ghost.’ The reputation of a ghost had been attached itself to Stella by the rest of the team members; after all, nobody else had any clue she even existed. Strangely, any member of the mafia mentioning a little girl coming out of the Sariel Detective Agency found themselves dead very, very fast. Strange how that happens.

Stella took a refill of bullets and set out to complete her mission. Strix dashed back and forth drawers and tables whilst writing letters. Excel and Bailey departed, making their way over to the warehouse to inspect the future battlefield. Strix had already taken care of selling the cargo within the warehouse, so all that was left was an empty field, save for the columns of shelves.

‘Say, Boss, why are we defending the warehouse? Wouldn’t it be easier to give it up?’ Excel asked, while they were walking across the street. ‘Well, they’ve put us in a tough position, Excel. If we give it up, the reputation of Sariel will drop. But more importantly, I’ve found a very important device within the warehouse. I’ve asked Strix to transport it, but the technology is… foreign, and we have been so far unable to extract it. And I’m not willing to give it up.’ Excel nodded at this explanation. There was always a reason for an action, and so far, he believed in the Boss.

They continued their conversation as a trio of bandits drew rifles and fired at them as they turned the corner. They both jumped backwards, Excel grabbing the riot shield from his back whilst Bailey readied her cane. Excel turned the corner and ran at the thugs, and Bailey shot the fools as they fled straight into her line of sight once they realized their mediocre bullets stood no chance versus Excel.

‘Do they really intend to continue this little game with us? It’s been a while since they dared to fight us on the streets, though,’ Bailey laughed while walking forward and dusting off her clothes. When the agency was in its nascent stages, Bailey and Strix, who were the two original members, constantly had to dispatch these surprise units. Without Maybelline on scout duty, perhaps it would have actually been dangerous.

But now, Maybelline was occupied, and Bailey had to remember to watch her step. It was quite bad to rely on May too much, she realized. ‘Exactly. Watch yourself, Bai. I can’t be watching you all the time, you know,’ May’s voice resonated in her mind. Annoying, but definitely true.

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Excel opted to keep the barrier in his hands as they moved forward. ‘I suppose they’re quite worried about these next few days. The property damage will be too much to handle.’ Bailey’s laugh affirmed her assent, but she wasn’t at all focused on Excel’s words. Much more important news had just come in.

‘Bai. I’ve found out where the portal came from. It’s not looking great.’

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May started to grow bored of watching Ashur’s slow perusal of his documents. It was nearly as boring as observing Strix, when Bai had first established the agency. An endless ocean of documents passing in and out nearly made her feel bad for the mob boss; after all, every document and report he read gave incredibly well illustrated maps and orders, showing where every single thug was positioned. As the hours passed by, May took pleasure in seeing the dots slowly disappear.

‘Someone explain how the hell these groups keep dying!’ Ashur growled. He had already shot down two suspected traitors, but the information leaks kept flowing. He kept moving the pieces around, but nothing stopped the slow and precise assassinations from continuing. It was almost demonic how fast the groups were being cleared.

‘I suggest that we group the underlings in larger groups. It should be more safe than the groups of three we generally use.’ came a suggestion from the corner. It was the only remaining advisor of Ashur; an elderly man, Frank. ‘Either that, or you yourself should go on the stage, Ashur. The business would be cleared up immediately. Especially with the boosts our… friends have delivered.’

‘Speaking of which, have the other Gates been operating to capacity?’ Ashur followed up. ‘We need the shipments going fast. The boosts have been allowing us to outclass everyone, so far. After the operation, as you know, we will finally be rid of these Sariel folks, and clear out Ruler as well. It’s just marble they need, for whatever reason. Keep the imports coming!’

‘I’ll be checking on the Gates right now, Lord Ashur. We must not disappoint the Empress.’

‘Indeed, old man. Indeed.’

What the old man could never realize was that he wasn’t walking alone at all.

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